10 Questions to Ask Before You Buy Leads From a New Lead Provider

Buying leads is one of the fastest ways to fill a lending pipeline, and one of the easiest ways to waste money. The difference usually comes down to the questions you ask before the first order, not after. Here are the ten questions we'd ask any lead provider, including us.

1. Are the leads exclusive or shared?

This is the first question because it changes everything else. A shared lead is sold to several lenders at once, which turns every lead into a race to the phone. An exclusive lead goes to one lender only. Shared leads are cheaper per lead for a reason: your real cost is measured per funded loan, and a cheap lead that three competitors also called is often the most expensive lead you'll buy. We break down the math in exclusive leads vs. shared leads.

2. What criteria does every lead have to meet?

A serious provider can answer this in one sentence: minimum credit score, minimum loan amount, geography, loan type. If the answer is vague — "these are people interested in funding" — expect to do the screening yourself on every call. Also ask whether the criteria are self-reported by the borrower or verified by the provider, because that changes how much trust you put in the number.

3. Where does the traffic come from?

Leads generated from the provider's own ads and landing pages behave differently from leads bought from third-party aggregators and resold. Ask directly: do you generate these leads yourself, or buy them from someone else? A provider who generates their own traffic controls the message the borrower saw, the questions on the form, and the consent language.

4. How is consent captured?

Every borrower inquiry should include clear consent to be contacted, with a record of when and how it was given. This matters for TCPA compliance and for your own outreach. If a provider can't show you the consent language the borrower agreed to, that's a red flag. We cover the details in our TCPA guide for borrower leads.

5. How fast are leads delivered?

Speed to lead is the single biggest factor in contact rates. A borrower who submitted an inquiry two minutes ago is shopping a live deal; a borrower from a batch delivered yesterday has already talked to someone else. Ask whether leads are delivered in real time or in batches, and whether delivery is measured in seconds, hours, or days.

6. Can leads go straight into my CRM?

Email delivery works, but every manual step between the lead arriving and your first call costs you contact rate. Ask whether the provider can deliver directly into your CRM or loan origination system, and whether they support the tools you already use.

7. What happens when a lead doesn't meet the criteria?

Every provider delivers a bad lead eventually — a disconnected number, a borrower below the stated minimums. The question is what happens next. Ask for the replacement policy in writing: what's eligible, what's not, how long you have to request a replacement, and whether you get a replacement lead or a refund. If the answer is "we'll take a look," assume you're eating those leads.

8. Is there a minimum order, and what does volume pricing look like?

Minimums tell you how confident a provider is. A high minimum with no trial path means you're underwriting their quality with your budget. Ask for the per-lead price at your expected volume and whether pricing changes as you scale.

9. Can I talk to a current customer?

A provider with happy lenders will connect you with one. Reviews on the provider's site are a starting point, but a five-minute call with a lender who buys from them monthly tells you more than any sales page.

10. What do you do with my data and the borrower's data?

Ask who else sees the borrower's information, whether leads are ever resold or recycled into other campaigns, and how long records are kept. The answer should be in the provider's privacy policy, not just in an email from a sales rep.

How LendingFlow answers these

LendingFlow leads are exclusive — sold to one lender only, never shared or resold. Every lead self-reports a FICO of 660 or higher and a loan request of at least $200,000. We generate our own traffic, capture consent on every inquiry, and deliver leads to your CRM seconds after the borrower submits. Pricing is $50 per lead with a 20-lead minimum, and eligible leads can be replaced within 7 days under our written replacement policy.

Ready to test us against these questions? Get started here, or book a 15-minute call and ask us anything on this list.